That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. (II Timothy 1:12)
Dear Father,
Paul lived in such a way that there was no hope for him unless you were real and unless the story of the resurrection was true. But his trust was complete and his confidence unwavering. I pray these children entrust everything to you such that the non-believer considers them silly for how they live.
Give them a strong conviction in their hearts that you are worthy of their trust and their confidence. Do some obvious things in their lives, as you have done with me, that strengthens that conviction - obvious signs of your presence and you walking with them, actions that cannot really be explained away because the odds against them being coincidence are too great. By you Spirit within them, give them an undeniable presence in their hearts. May they then entrust all that they have and all that they are to you.
Amen
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Not Timidity, But Power
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (II Timothy 1:7)
Dear Father,
A message that continues to ring through your word is that you want us to be courageous people. Timidity is not an option and is an indication of weak faith. But recognizing our weakness, you give your Spirit to live with us and He brings with Him, not timidity, but power as He transforms us.
Help these children to grasp the power Who lives within them. Help them to draw on that Power through study of His sword, your word and by time in prayer. Well up your power within them mightily. May that power allow them to speak boldly, but also speak boldly in love, finding the proper balance and mix of boldness and kindness. May they be bold in speaking truth in a loving manner, but may they also be bold in expressing their love to those your give them to love.
Amen
Dear Father,
A message that continues to ring through your word is that you want us to be courageous people. Timidity is not an option and is an indication of weak faith. But recognizing our weakness, you give your Spirit to live with us and He brings with Him, not timidity, but power as He transforms us.
Help these children to grasp the power Who lives within them. Help them to draw on that Power through study of His sword, your word and by time in prayer. Well up your power within them mightily. May that power allow them to speak boldly, but also speak boldly in love, finding the proper balance and mix of boldness and kindness. May they be bold in speaking truth in a loving manner, but may they also be bold in expressing their love to those your give them to love.
Amen
Respecting Older People
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. (I Timothy 5:1,2)
Dear Father,
These children will find themselves frustrated with older people. Older people think slower and less clearly, they are set in their ways and many times do not appreciate the latest developments. Consequently, our American society places little value on them. With our busy schedules we seem to have no time to spend with them and do not feel the importance to make time. But you tell us to treat older people well and you tell us that there is a wisdom that they hold from many years of living.
I pray these children go against the grain of our society and place great value and worth in older people, that they will make time to spend with them and invest in them. May they treat older people with dignity and respect and may they honor them for the lives of faith they have lived. May they treat them gently when they disagree with their views, listening to their views to glean wisdom even if they do not agree with them, and without arguing with them. May they experience great blessing from having walked beside them.
Amen
Dear Father,
These children will find themselves frustrated with older people. Older people think slower and less clearly, they are set in their ways and many times do not appreciate the latest developments. Consequently, our American society places little value on them. With our busy schedules we seem to have no time to spend with them and do not feel the importance to make time. But you tell us to treat older people well and you tell us that there is a wisdom that they hold from many years of living.
I pray these children go against the grain of our society and place great value and worth in older people, that they will make time to spend with them and invest in them. May they treat older people with dignity and respect and may they honor them for the lives of faith they have lived. May they treat them gently when they disagree with their views, listening to their views to glean wisdom even if they do not agree with them, and without arguing with them. May they experience great blessing from having walked beside them.
Amen
Being Young
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (I Timothy 4:12)
Dear Father,
For what ever reason, you have always put me in positions of leadership at a relatively young age. But from that I learned that what I lacked in maturity could be made up by speaking and practicing your word and my failures occurred when I did not.
I pray you raise these children up in their youth to be spiritual leaders. But keep ever before them the risks and limitations youth brings with it. Keep them focused in your word and speaking it with great humility, acknowledging that what they speak is from you, not from them. Get them a spirit of courage such that they are not intimidated while attempting to lead or teach, again falling back on your word, which is ancient, when they are challenged or criticized. And do not let the prospect of challenge intimidation keep them from accepting your call.
Amen
Dear Father,
For what ever reason, you have always put me in positions of leadership at a relatively young age. But from that I learned that what I lacked in maturity could be made up by speaking and practicing your word and my failures occurred when I did not.
I pray you raise these children up in their youth to be spiritual leaders. But keep ever before them the risks and limitations youth brings with it. Keep them focused in your word and speaking it with great humility, acknowledging that what they speak is from you, not from them. Get them a spirit of courage such that they are not intimidated while attempting to lead or teach, again falling back on your word, which is ancient, when they are challenged or criticized. And do not let the prospect of challenge intimidation keep them from accepting your call.
Amen
Friday, June 28, 2013
I Am: The Vine
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:5-8)
Dear Jesus,
You are the source. The source of our power, the source of our strength, the source of our sustenance. When we are separated from you, we wither. When we are connected, we flourish and bear the fruit of the Spirit. Give these children a clear understanding of this principle. Give them a strong yearning to be in your presence, as a deer pants for the water. When they grow slack in their time with you, put a heavy burden on their hearts which can only be lifted when they return to your side and give them the discernment to quickly realize the cause of such burden and solution for it. As they stay connected and close to you, grow your fruit from within them so that they bless multitudes of people with your hope and radiance emanating from them.
Amen
Dear Jesus,
You are the source. The source of our power, the source of our strength, the source of our sustenance. When we are separated from you, we wither. When we are connected, we flourish and bear the fruit of the Spirit. Give these children a clear understanding of this principle. Give them a strong yearning to be in your presence, as a deer pants for the water. When they grow slack in their time with you, put a heavy burden on their hearts which can only be lifted when they return to your side and give them the discernment to quickly realize the cause of such burden and solution for it. As they stay connected and close to you, grow your fruit from within them so that they bless multitudes of people with your hope and radiance emanating from them.
Amen
I Am: The Way the Truth and the Life
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
Dear Jesus,
These children will hear that there are many ways to God. They will hear that Christians are narrow minded by saying that you are the only way to salvation, that only in you is truth. Give them a clear head in these arguments so that they are not confused. Help them to see that a comment that "all religions point to God and are a path to him" is an illogical statement. The world religions are so in conflict with each other suggests that the God who created order in the universe, created absolute chaos when it comes to approaching him. Further, the world religions don't even have a consistent concept of "God" or "salvation".
Only in you does the personal God of creation give himself for his creation to redeem it. Only in you is salvation not a merit based achievement by adherents, rather is it based on the achievement of a righteous God. Only in you is the command and law to love others as you have loved us, a command, if followed, that would solve all the problems of the world. Only in you is a God who cares deeply for the individual. Show these children that believing that such a God is the only way is not narrow, but is redeeming.
Amen
Dear Jesus,
These children will hear that there are many ways to God. They will hear that Christians are narrow minded by saying that you are the only way to salvation, that only in you is truth. Give them a clear head in these arguments so that they are not confused. Help them to see that a comment that "all religions point to God and are a path to him" is an illogical statement. The world religions are so in conflict with each other suggests that the God who created order in the universe, created absolute chaos when it comes to approaching him. Further, the world religions don't even have a consistent concept of "God" or "salvation".
Only in you does the personal God of creation give himself for his creation to redeem it. Only in you is salvation not a merit based achievement by adherents, rather is it based on the achievement of a righteous God. Only in you is the command and law to love others as you have loved us, a command, if followed, that would solve all the problems of the world. Only in you is a God who cares deeply for the individual. Show these children that believing that such a God is the only way is not narrow, but is redeeming.
Amen
I Am: The Resurrection and the Life
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25,26)
Dear Jesus,
Something inside of us cannot accept that we someday simply cease to exist. Our hearts tell us that we live on after our death. In truth, scripture teaches the resurrection. We believe that our resurrection only happens in you and by your power. May these children look in hope to their resurrection in the last day and may their lives be motivated and governed by that hope. Help them to believe this to the very core of their being. May they look to you for true life in this life and for life everlasting in the life to come.
Amen
Dear Jesus,
Something inside of us cannot accept that we someday simply cease to exist. Our hearts tell us that we live on after our death. In truth, scripture teaches the resurrection. We believe that our resurrection only happens in you and by your power. May these children look in hope to their resurrection in the last day and may their lives be motivated and governed by that hope. Help them to believe this to the very core of their being. May they look to you for true life in this life and for life everlasting in the life to come.
Amen
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